BC High's Super 8 hopes rest on goalie Peter Cronin

Peter Cronin will look to get BC High back to the Super 8 title
game. (Lauren Brooks Photography)

Perhaps Peter Cronin was
destined to be a goaltender.

The Boston College High School
senior netminder didn’t plan for a career between the pipes
after taking up hockey at the age of 6 in his hometown of Norwell,
Mass.

“I started like every kid
does, learning to skate,” said Cronin.

After being chosen to play on a
youth team — the ’94 Kings — Cronin attended his
first practice, but no goaltenders made it to the rink that day. No
problem. Cronin threw on the goaltender’s equipment and took
his place between the pipes. He never left. “Ever since then
I was a goaltender,” Cronin said. “Ever since I was
6.”

Who knows where Cronin’s
hockey career would have led him had he not taken his spot in goal
that day. What we do know is that he has become one of the premier
netminders in Massachusetts and a mainstay for the Boston College
High School program.

“Peter has been an
excellent four-year player for us,” BC High coach John
Flaherty (South Boston, Mass.) said. “He joined us as a
freshman and split time and has played every game since his
sophomore year. He’s one of the reasons our program is back
as one of the top teams in Massachusetts.”

After missing the playoffs his
freshman season, Cronin and the Eagles advanced to the Super 8
semifinals in 2010-11 and reached the Super 8 title game a year
ago, falling to rival Malden Catholic, 3-1.

As a freshman, Cronin made eight
starts, compiling a 2.74 goals-against average with shutouts in his
first two varsity contests, with both games ending as scoreless
ties. Cronin posted a 1.87 goals-against average as a sophomore. He
had a .910 save percentage while making 24 starts for the Eagles.
Last year, as a junior, Cronin had a 1.97 goals-against average
with four shutouts and a .921 save percentage.

Midway through his senior
season, Cronin has a 1.18 goals-against average with four shutouts
and a .962 save percentage. Flaherty said Cronin combines technique
with athletic ability to form the basis of his goaltending style.
“He’s positionally sound,” Flaherty said.
“To watch him is to appreciate what he does. He’s in
good position and he’s athletic. When pucks hit him (through
traffic) it’s by design.”

“I think I’m a
pretty athletic kid,” said Cronin, who is 6-foot-2. “I
move pretty well from side to side.”

Along with technique and
athleticism, Cronin has a third weapon in his goaltending arsenal:
preparation. “His preparation and his focus and his drive
make him the goaltender he is,” Flaherty said.

For Cronin, ice time in practice
is crucial to success in games. “The way you practice is how
you’re going to play in the game,” he said.

Flaherty said Cronin’s
intensity is evident every moment he’s on the ice. “He
competes on every shot,” he said. “It shows the
competitive drive he has.”

As a result of his intensity and
preparation, Cronin has become a natural leader for the Eagles
simply through his day-to-day actions. “His approach to the
game feeds off on the young guys,” Flaherty said.
“He’s the first guy to give accolades to his teammates.
He never likes credit. He’s a great leader. He doesn’t
say a lot, but when he does his teammates listen. They want to play
well for him.”

“I’m very (focused)
on game day,” Cronin said. “I think my intensity does
kind of filter down to the other guys.”

That intensity is needed at BC
High, a Catholic Conference program that faces Massachusetts’
elite teams on a game-by-game basis.

“Our schedule is such that
you can’t get too high with a win or too low with a
loss,” Flaherty said. “We don’t have any games
off or easy wins. It’s a mental grind. Even the non-league
games equate to a Stanley Cup game for the other teams. They want
to beat us. It’s challenging, but that’s what makes our
team successful.”

“At BC High when the
playoffs come we’re conditioned to play in tight
games,” Cronin said. “As a goaltender you don’t
want to lose any confidence. We only play (about) 20 games so
it’s always a playoff atmosphere. I try to play every game
like it’s Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I don’t
want to lose.”

Cronin’s drive to succeed
is also fueled by a commitment to his teammates.
“That’s one of my great fears, letting my team down and
thinking I could have done more,” he said.

Flaherty said Cronin has the
ideal mental approach for a goaltender. “His make-up is
perfect,” Flaherty said. “He likes the pressure. He
thrives on the pressure.”

During BC High’s run to
the Super 8 championship game a year ago, Cronin posted
back-to-back shutouts in the tournament, against Woburn (1-0) and
Needham (2-0). “I think the goalie dictates a lot of how a
team is going to play,” Cronin said. “You’ve just
got to give your team a chance to win. I’m going to go out
there and if I play the best I can we’re probably going to
win.”

Flaherty said Cronin also is
blessed with a goaltender’s best friend: a short memory. That
short memory was on display during a January game against Catholic
Memorial. Catholic Memorial took a quick 1-0 lead just 12 seconds
into the game, but that was all Cronin would allow as he turned in
an outstanding performances with 35 saves in a 5-1 victory.

“When something
doesn’t go right, you have to let it go and it doesn’t
rile him; he comes right back,” Flaherty said. “You
have to have a short memory.”

“If you let up a goal you
say, ‘OK, it’s over and I’m going to stop the
next one,’ ” Cronin said.

BC High has had some talented
goaltenders through the years, and Cronin is carrying on that
legacy, Flaherty said. Former Eagles netminders still plying their
trade today include Joe Cannata (Wakefield, Mass.), who went on to
play at Merrimack College and is a member of the Chicago Wolves,
the Vancouver Canucks’ American Hockey League affiliate; and
Sam Marotta (Bridgewater, Mass.), currently a junior goaltender at
Merrimack. “We’ve had some great goaltenders,”
Flaherty said. “Peter falls in line with those
guys.”

Flaherty said several New
England Small College Athletic Conference schools have expressed
interest in Cronin, and he also is drawing attention from Division
1 programs that would like him to play junior hockey before
college. “He’ll do well (with whatever decision he
makes),” Flaherty said. “He’s a very bright kid
and a great student. As a coach I’m very fortunate because at
BC High we have kids who are committed academically as well as
athletically.”

“I have a lot of
options,” Cronin said. “It’s all about finding
the right fit and the right school.”

For now, Cronin will be at the
heart of BC High’s playoff surge. “He’s a great
kid,” Flaherty said of Cronin. “He’s the complete
package. He’s a competitor. He wants to do well.”